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SONY OPEN IN HAWAIIJanuary 13, 2007Charles Howell IIIHONOLULU, HAWAII TODD BUDNICK: We welcome Charles Howell III, the third round leader at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Two birdies on your last holes to give you the one-stroke lead going into tomorrow. CHARLES HOWELL III: I'll say that playing with Chad Campbell today was definitely an advantage for me. You know, the third round out, the first tournament, it's still a windy day, still a little jittery out there. But to have a guy like Chad who is a friend of mine, but a nice, calm guy, doesn't get too upset about much, it was definitely an advantage to have him in the group. You know, there towards the end, he struggled, but once again on the back nine, my putter really bailed me out and saved me. I holed a couple of nice putts for birdie, and then the 2-putt up the last, I sort of had given Luke a birdie up the 18th, so I figured I needed a birdie there to have at least a shot of playing in the final group. But yeah, it's exciting now. My first event back, I couldn't really ask for much more than to play in the last group on Sunday. Still the first week. I didn't play last week like he did. But it should be exciting. Q. You talked yesterday about the amount of time you spent on your putting; any coincidence what you're doing this week and that you're second in the field? CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, if you look back, I don't think I've ever been second in the field in putting through three rounds. I mean, I may have once. We spent a lot of time on it. I'm glad it showed this week. If it hadn't have, it still would not change what I need to improve on and what I'm still working on. Fortunately for here, I've seen it through here the first three rounds for a little bit. You know, it's so nice to have that club to help save you. Getting back to the old argument where quite possibly the top five players in the world have the top five best short games. You look at what a great putter Tiger is and what a great putter Ernie Els is. And you look at even a Stuart Appleby when he's playing well, all the putts he holes, it's no accident to see the guy on TV hole a lot of putts. Q. Tadd Fujikawa? CHARLES HOWELL III: I didn't watch him but I'm sure he did. That's something, isn't it? 16. Wow. Q. Five-foot one. CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, but 16. All of it. Q. What did you think when you saw that name on the board? CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I know I played a TOUR event, I played the Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens, I believe I had just turned 16 at the time, and played it. I was paired with Hugh Royer and John Elliot, and was just scared to death. I shot 78-75, had no chance of making the cut whatsoever. And man, to see himself under, got to 8-under at one point, wow, that's awesome. Q. Why do you think that is? CHARLES HOWELL III: Why do I think what is? Q. Why do you think you were scared to death and he wasn't? Luke said the same thing. Why would someone like Luke Donald be nervous and Michelle Wie at 14 wasn't? CHARLES HOWELL III: Truthfully at 16, we were prepared by the AJGA. I guess that isn't good enough anymore. I guess they just have to get to the PGA TOUR. I don't know. (Laughter). I don't know if it's -- I still think there's not to be some carry over of the Tiger Woods influence, in that all he accomplished at such a young age, and now all of a sudden that stereotype or that thought is broken down; that all of a sudden now it's, you know, I'm 16, I can do this. I mean, heck, Michelle almost made the cut here when she was 14. I mean, can you imagine the thought of that, a 14-year-old, and a girl, making the cut in a PGA TOUR event? So I'm sure he's seen that. I still think the Tiger Woods influence bleeds back down into that, absolutely. Q. Is it possible they don't know how tough the game is yet at 16? CHARLES HOWELL III: I guess. It's hard to manage in. I mean, you look at all of the guys that have struggled for so long to play golf on the PGA TOUR, and the guys that make it through Tour School and the guys that grind it out year after year after year; and then you see a 16-year-old come up and make the cut, and at one point in time, what, fourth, fifth in the golf tournament? I mean, fair play to him. And me being part of Callaway, I love the stuff he's playing and I love the hat on the bag and all that. Q. He's going to grow up and take all your money, you know that. CHARLES HOWELL III: If he keeps shooting all those scores at age 16, fair play. Q. When the 2007 season started, aside from the putting, any new approaches to the game; like this is a new season this year? CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, in the past I think a lot of the new approaches to the game are sort of like New Year's resolutions in that you keep them for about a week and you hit the first bad shot and then the heck with that. The one thing for me, is just staying patient. I think that winning in 2002, and heck, I remember thinking, wow, it's taken me 60-some odd tournaments to win a tournament; what's going on here, and now it's been four years. The patience level is big for me. Whether that's hitting a bad shot and getting impatient and upset with myself or whether it's a result in a tournament or whatnot. Listen, I mean, I understand a lot of the questions that people have and the comments they make and all of that of why haven't I won more. And listen, it's not something which I haven't laid awake a lot of times at night thinking about. But you know, at the end of the day, I finish second a lot, I finish third quite a bit but I haven't given myself enough chances to win. Regardless what happens tomorrow and regardless what happens the rest of the year, if you keep giving yourself opportunities to win, eventually you just have to win one. That in my opinion is what the great players do. You look at Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh, there's nothing flashy about these guys yet they are there every single week. Still in my career, I've been relatively consistent but I have not been consistent tent giving myself chances to win. You know, if you take a guy, you throw Tiger Woods out of this; take a Jim Furyk. The guy gives himself a legitimate 12, 15 times to win a year, he's going to win one, he's just too good not to. Q. Have you allowed yourself to think what it might mean to win tomorrow, or do you just have to block that out of your mind? CHARLES HOWELL III: You know with, me, I've got to block it out of my mind. And anybody that says they don't is lying to you. That's probably the biggest enemy in this game is thinking ahead, be it good, bad or indifferent. It's a challenge of mine to block that out and to stay right here with what I'm doing. Probably a positive that the golf course is playing difficult with the wind and whatnot because it forces me to focus on each shot at hand. If it was a -- if it was a different venue, say a Palm Springs type place where it's just a birdie-fest, have a chance to get a little lazy on a hole or two, I think it's real easy to start looking ahead. I said it yesterday, even today, with it being difficult and windy, it sort of kept my mind on the task at hand. Q. Less pressure maybe with a one-shot lead than a three- or four-shot lead? CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, you know, truthfully I don't think I've -- I've had a big lead once. It was in L.A. in 2003 and I lost to Mike Weir in a playoff. I had had the lead over Nick Price. I didn't sleep much the night before that Sunday. Played well. Obviously didn't win the tournament. Other than that, I really can't think I've had a lead going into the last round of a Sunday before. Q. 84 Lumber. CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, right, I was one ahead of Ben Curtis. Q. How different were those two? Obviously 84 Lumber you were still dealing with a lot of issues in 2006 and your game, but in 2003, I think it was 2003, you really played very well that year and then lost. I mean, how different were those two, and was 2003 a little more devastating than what happened at the 84 Lumber? CHARLES HOWELL III: 2003 was definitely more devastating than what happened at 84 Lumber for sure. I won at the end of 2002 at the Michelob. I had played well that year, I finished second in the TOUR Championship in 2002. I got off to a nice start in 2003 right into L.A., and I remember I didn't play that back nine very well on that Sunday. Yeah, I think that one sort of hung with me a lot more as a negative, where second at the 84 Lumber was a major positive for me, which that goes to show you. But the one in 2003 was definitely a whole lot bigger than the one at 84 Lumber. Q. When you talked about your putting, is your ball-striking a complement to that? CHARLES HOWELL III: My ball-striking is getting better. I still have a lot of things to improve on. I still -- my goal, this whole off-season, we looked at a ton of video of Nick Faldo from back in '91, '92, '93 and I still use that swing of his sort of as my model. I know that sounds funny with our body types nothing alike. But you look at a guy like that who was so consistent day-in and day-out with his ball-striking. Not that I'll ever be a quote unquote, great iron player, but I still believe there's still room for a great iron player on this tour. I still think there's room for a guy that gives himself a ton of chances, a lot like a Luke Donald if you will. Him and I play two totally different types of golf. Luke is much more just sort of fairway, green and heck, his nickname is Plod. He didn't get that by accident. It's just how he plays golf which is a massive compliment. With that said, my ball-striking, I need more opportunities throughout the day. Ultimately I don't want to feel like I don't get enough chances there and put too much pressure on the putter. So, yeah, you're 100% right. It ultimately boils down to how many putts between 15 and 20 feet did you have versus 30 to 40 feet. Q. As much time as you spent on those Faldo tapes, are you playing any slower? CHARLES HOWELL III: I'm actually playing a little slower, but hopefully the ball-striking's improved. TODD BUDNICK: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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